Portable Addiction: 15-Jan-92 #009

From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 07/15/92-05:50:56 PM Z


From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Portable Addiction: 15-Jan-92 #009
Date: Wed Jul 15 17:50:56 1992


Contributed By: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
               PORTABLE ADDICTION  ISSUE #O9  JANUARI 15th 1992
    THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE ATARI LYNX, SEGA GAMEGEAR AND NINTENDO GAMEBOY
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

       Tjerk "MegaJerk" Heijmens Visser ......... (EDITOR)
       Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl .................. (EDITORIAL ASSISTANT)
       Alex "Killer of Laura Palmer" Borburg .... (GAMEBOY STAFF WRITER)

      Thanks to ...     The  Funtronics  Computer Shop,  Laurent Arditi, 
                        Stephen Landrum, Robert Jung, Andre "ALU" Luyer, 
                        Amsterdamned BBS,  Alizera  Malek, Mr.Doom,  The 
                        Tom, ACE and all the others  that made this most 
                        excellent issue possible...

    Please mail your comments to: tjerk@nikhef.nl on Internet or bd831 on 
    Cleveland Free-net.
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                            CONTENTS:

          Editorial .................................... by Yiri Kohl
          Hot news 'n' gossip ........... (well, not really actually)
          Qix  (Lynx Review) ........................... by Yiri Kohl
          Lynx inside out/Screen scene Europe .......... by Yiri Kohl
          Ninja Boy (?) (GameBoy Review) ............by Heland Palmer                                                         
          Laurent Arditi Interview ..................... by Mega Jerk
          Xybots (Lynx Review) ......................... by Yiri Kohl
          Factory Panic (GameGear Review) .............. by Yiri Kohl
          Vacation report (Thailand) ................... by Mega Jerk
          FaceBall 2OOO (GameBoy Review) ............... by Yiri Kohl
          24 MHz Lynx, comments by Stephen Landrum ..... by Mega Jerk
          Axe Battler (GameGear Review) ................ by Yiri Kohl
          Next Month ................................................
          Bill & Ted's Excellent players guide (Lynx) .. by Yiri Kohl

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   Editorial:

    Ah!  Yet another month without the editor has passed.  It almost seems as
   if I have become the editor myself!  As everyone was on vacation, I had to
   do almost the entire newsletter myself (again)  and that's the main reason
   for the fact that this issue is so small.  I do hope, however, to continue
   this trend of hard working,  even when I got Tjerk and Alex again to help.
   If each of us would  produce as much as I have this month,  we would get a
   huge newsletter with even more reviews, previews and of course, news!  Now
   let's just hope this will work, as then we might have a newsletter of over
   8OK!!!  Anyway, those are just plans for the future,  as at current we can
   not cover every game being released for every system and so  we'll have to
   expand.  Until then, let's just enjoy what we have.  So go forth, read and
   enjoy!  Later...  dudes!

                                            Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                                            Editorial Assistant

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

         .   +          .       +       .              .           .    +
                  .   H O T    N E W S    A N D    G O S S I P  +      .
               .            +       .          +          .      .


    Well, there wasn't that much hot news or gossip around this month. Guess
   this was because of Christmas.  The only big news was when Xybots was re-
   leased just a day before Christmas. Furthermore, nothing has happened, so
   we've got no news on the Jaguar and the like.  Better luck next month!

   All:  In Holland we have seen the release of 2 english magazines.  Game-X
        and Game Zone have been available in the UK longer but now they have
        come  to Holland  to  fill  up  the  gap  that was  left  after  the 
        disappearance of Raze.
        Game-X is very cheap, only 75 UK pence, but it doesn't give the info 
        like Game Zone. Game Zone  looks a bit like ACE, so that's very good.

   Lynx: Atari has said that it will release at least 5 games a month for the
         Lynx. But they forgot to say when they will start with it...
         But other sources tell us that Atari says it will have a total of 75
         games available for the Lynx.
         We didn't believe the 30+ games  for last year, and we don't believe
         this. But we would like to believe it.... Please.....
   
   Lynx: The release date of  The Guardians: Storms over Doria has been moved
         from Febuari to March.

   Lynx: It is  rumoured that  Double Dragon and  Super Off-Road will also be 
         released  for the Lynx.  Double Dragon  will have  2 player  Comlynx 
         capability,  and it  is supposed to  arrive in July.  Super Off-Road 
         will have a 4 player Lynx-up and is supposed to arrive in August.

   Mario: Mario hype has hit Holland.  From now on you can buy Mario chewing-
          gum at the  Meidi-Ya store.  We hoped to stay  clear from this, but
          it is  comming for us......  If we don't watch it  we'll be totally 
          Mario-ed within a year.....:-)

   Lynx: Atari  has released the  sun screen/visor for the Lynx II,  not real 
         stunning news, but....

   Genesis: There will also be a Game Genie for the Genesis...

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                  +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                    Machine    : Atari Lynx
                    Title      : Qix
                    Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                  +----------------------------------------------+

    Well,   Atari seem to  convert all  their classics  to the Lynx  now and
   frankly I am not really all that excited about that.   Of course RoboTron
   was great,  but that was really one of those excellent golden oldies. Qix
   however never was such a revolutionary game. And I don't mean to say that
   all games on the Lynx have to be revolutionary,   but when you convert an
   old game,  there has to be something special about it.  Anyway, let's get
   on with the game itself.

    The gameplay,  as most of us will know, is simple.  The playing field is
   an empty square with a weird figure moving and bouncing around inside. On
   the outside "walls" there are two little sparkling dots that move in both
   directions.   The player controls a small dot which he/she can move along
   the walls.  The player can also draw new walls inside the square. As long
   as the player is still drawing, the weird figure in the middle can attack
   the wall and the player will lose a life.   If the drawn wall forms a new
   "room",   the "room" is filled in with a color and the player is rewarded
   with points.   A wall can be drawn at two speeds.    If the wall is drawn
   slowly,  the player receives extra points.   The objective of every level
   is to capture a  given percentage of  the screen by drawing  new "rooms".
   If the player succeeds, a new level with more of the same appears.

    The graphics and sound are quite well,    and recreate the exact feeling
   of the original.  Although the sound is minimal and the graphics are less
   than simple,  it all is quite acceptable.    It's all clear to see what's
   happening.

    As this is by far the best Qix conversion I have yet seen  (It plays al-
   most identical to the original) I have to say that if you're a Qix-phreak
   you have to rush out and buy this game today.  Otherwise there's only one
   conclusion:...   steer clear and save your hard earned cash for something
   worthwile.

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 3.O - Clear and effective, but dated as hell.
    Sound ........ 2.O - Not much of an improvement over the original!
    Playability .. 7.O - Quite fun and playable, even if you're not a fan.
    Lastability .. 3.5 - It get's SO boring.  There's no urge to play for
                         a high score at all!
    Overall ...... 4.O - Just a waste of money.
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

  

                     LYNX INSIDE OUT/SCREEN SCENE EUROPE

    I have seen a lot of conversations about ideas for Lynx games on the net
   lately, the most noticable idea being to convert the Commander Keen games
   to the Lynx.  It all became  quite clear that  there still  are some mis-
   understandings about the graphics of the Lynx.   Some people thought that
   converting the EGA version couldn't be too hard.   Although this it's not
   impossible,  there's a lot more to it than just transferring the graphics
   from one system to another.  The original idea for the design of the Lynx
   was by RJ Mical, Dave Needle and David Morse.  The three of them had also
   worked on the Amiga in the past,   and this is why the graphics are quite
   different from any normal PC standard.    The graphics for Lynx games are
   usually drawn on an Amiga and then  converted to the Lynx format.   So if
   you'd take all the original EGA graphics of say Commander Keen,  and then
   convert them to IFF format  (The Interchange File Format the Amiga uses),
   you would be able to transfer them to the Lynx.    Of course some scaling
   has to be done due to the smaller screen,   but with the help of both the
   Amiga's and the Lynx's  powerfull graphic  chips it wouldn't be a problem
   to fit the game on the screen.   And then you're still left with the pro-
   blem of how  to port over the  code and the sound,  whereas the  sound is
   the biggest problem as sound  for Lynx-games is made with a custom editor
   on and Amiga.  Conclusion.... porting over a game from the PC to the Lynx
   isn't all that easy, but it should definitely be possible.

    But then another thing to think about...  Why port over these games? The
   Lynx's powerfull hardware is capable  of doing spectacular tricks to save
   processor time.  Take a game like, for example, Wing Commander.  The Lynx
   wouldn't have ANY problems at all in creating the scaled spaceships while
   the original uses all  kinds of ingenius  programming tricks to reach the
   desired effect.

    And then one last note. Porting games over sounds like a simple solution
   to quickly create more and more games for a system.  Well, but let's take
   a look at a company that did port over all the games from another system:
   Commodore ported over all the Atari ST games.    In Europe the result was
   enormous:   Everybody started  hating ATARI  instead of Commodore.   They
   hated Atari for producing pathetic games which could later be ported over
   to their Amigas.  Atari has vanished in Europe.    The only thing left of
   them as a reminder are the Portfolio, Lynx and Atari TT.    And the TT is
   already  slowly dying as  people say that the  system is  just a pathetic
   attempt at  imitating  the powerfull  Amiga!!!   For these and many other
   reasons computer/console systems are rivals in Europe.  As soon as a com-
   pany has any shared projects with another company a little war breaks out
   and one of the companies dies in  Europe.    That's the way it has always
   been over here,   and I'm afraid that this will sooner or later result in
   IBM and Nintendo dominating the market with no rivals at all.  Let's just
   wait and see....

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                  +----------------REVIEW--------------------+
                   Machine   : GameBoy
                   Title     : Ninja Boy
                   Review by : Heland Palmer
                  +------------------------------------------+

    From a friend of mine  I heard there was a shop with games straight from 
   America and Japan.  Having some money (finally)  I went to that shop, and 
   WOW my heart  started beating  twice as hard.  After picking up, looking, 
   gazing etc....  for about an hour  I finally chose a  Japanese game.  The 
   problem was/is that it's Japanese. I can't read the name of the game, and 
   the man in the shop said something like Ninja-Boy, so I  hope he's right.
   Now enough of this shit ! Let's take  a look at the game. 
    It's easy to understand without  knowledge of the Japanese language. For
   me it is a totally new game, and I can't unfortunately compare  it to any 
   game I know.
    Your mission is to *%$>{* (Why don't we have Japanese character sets...
   -PA) so  that won't be hard right?  All I know is that you  have to punch  
   and kick everything  that comes in your way. After somekicks and  punches
   you hear a  beeping sound,  and you can  enter the next world  (Yes, like 
   Mario 1-1, 1-2, 2-3 etc...). There are bonus worlds under the ground, and 
   there are even warp-zones (Mario).  It's a very nice, good, clear game to 
   play, and my girlfriend said that the graphics were sweet (?!). Oh...will 
   she finally understand my addiction?
    The game sound and music is good, and even a song of the shadows is used 
   in the game-music.

    I must say it's a great game overall and very addictive, because it is a
   new style of game  (for me at least).  I advise everyone to buy this game 
   from  culture brain,  and I guarantee you a lot of  pleasure for the next 
   month, years or maybe even more.....  

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 7.5 - Sweet says my girlfriend.
    Sound ........ 7.5 - Good punch sound, and nice game music.
    Playability .. 8.0 - Not hard but one hit and you lose a life.
    Lastability .. 7.5 - It stays addictive.
    Overall ...... 7.6 - Buy this game !!!!
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
               
                 +----------------INTERVIEW-----------------+
                   With : Laurent Arditi
                   Designer of : Super Skweek
                   System : Atari Lynx

                   By : Tjerk "Mega Jerk" Heijmens Visser
                  +------------------------------------------+
                                                              
   => Is Super Skweek a direct portover, or did you rewrite it for the Lynx?
     
     
    I first programmed Super Skweek for Atari ST and Amiga. Then, my company 
   (Loriciel) had a contract with Atari to port the game on Lynx. I was very
   happy because I never  programmed on other systems than the ST and Amiga.
   



   => How long did it take to do the game for the Lynx ?
   => - Was this a deadline forced by Atari, or your company ?
   => - I've heard people saying that writing for the Lynx is 
   =>   relatively easy.
   =>   Do you also think this ? If so why ?

    The real conversion took exactly 6 months;  we didn't have any deadline.
   But in fact, we  worked 5 months more because Atari was  always asking us
   modifications (see later). I think programming the Lynx is very very easy.
   I never programmed  6502 before  and I think  we did a very  good job and 
   very quickly. The  game has  been a  lot improved compared  to the  Amiga 
   version.  The development is  easy because  there are a lot of libraries,
   they are not too buggy.  And it is  very easy to  debug thanks  to Howard
   (the big box that  contains hardware bus-debuggers...).



   => Did you also write the PC version?
   => - What games have you done before this one and for which systems?

    No ! I hate PC ! I hate 80x86 !
   Super Skweek is my second game. The first one was... Skweek !
   I always  programmed on  ST & Amiga but  Skweek  was ported  onto the Nec 
   PC-Engine and the Sega GameGear by a japanese company. So Super Skweek is 
   the follow-up to  Skweek but it is much better.  The PC-Engine version is
   very close to the ST version but the Game Gear version is horrible !



   => How close is the Lynx version to the PC version, are there 
   => things left out?
   => - If so why.

    There is no PC version of Super Skweek (Skweek was ported onto PC).
   So I will  compare the Lynx version with  the Amiga version.  The game is
   much better on Lynx:  animations are faster  and smoother, there are more 
   levels,  more bonus stages.  We use the ComLynx so two  players can  play
   together trying to complete all levels, or they can play in "Combat Mode"
   where the goal is  to kill the other (a little like in Slimeworld).



   => What is the card size?

   The card size is 256Kb.


 
   => Are there any eastereggs in the game?

    We programmed an easteregg:  a Tetris !  Yes !  But  Atari  feared  that 
   Nintendo  would ask us  to remove it.  There is some... cheat codes  (not 
   really codes, but actions to do to earn lifes...)



   => Why was it done for the Lynx,  and not for the Game Gear or  some 
   => other handheld?
 
    Personally  I just program  (I'm not  employed by  Loriciel,  and I am a 
   student and program to have fun  and to earn a little bit of money) and I 
   don't  mind  to do  commercial things.  Loriciel  is always  searching to 
   convert  their games onto  game systems.  So they had a  contract to port 
   Super Skweek on the Lynx and Skweek on the Game Gear and the PC-Engine.



   => Does it fully use the Lynx' capability's. Like scaling etc...

    The game doesn't need scaling.  But I found this feature very funny so I
   programed some scaling animations (a little during the game, a lot during
   title animations...).  Of course we used the  Lynx sprites engine and all 
   other Lynx features. But the sound generator is very  strange and hard to
   program, so the sounds are so so.



   => Did it succeed in your opinion? 

   Yes, but you'll answer you question very soon.



   => How much influence  did Atari have in the  design of the game, or 
   => could you(r company) make decisions yourself?

    My own company had absolutely no influence. But Atari had...
   We finished the game at the end of june 91; But then Atari started to ask
   us a lot of modifications. These modifications was really not usefull and
   very  often  they  asked us  to  change  something  because  they  didn't 
   understand some features of the game. Some bug reports were  very  funny.
   eg: there is a presentation screen which is animated using scaling. Atari
   said scaling was  useless in this screen and must be removed!  We answerd 
   them that this showed the  superiority of the Lynx to the Game Gear...and
   then they agreed  with the scaling!  Sometimes they didn't  even test the 
   latest version... In fact the  modifications are minor  (eg: a monster is 
   red instead of black).



   => When will the game be available?

    The production  began at the  beginning of January,  so I hope the  game 
    will be available in February.



   => Will you do more games for the Lynx?

    I don't know. Now I'm working on another game on Amiga. I think it could
    be a great game on Lynx...we'll see.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

              +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                    Machine    : Atari Lynx
                    Title      : Xybots
                    Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                    Players    : 1-2
              +----------------------------------------------+

    Yet another conversion of an Atari coin-op of the same name.  The Xybots
   have overrun EarthBase 26-B9 and, surprise, you're the only man (or woman
   that is) who can save the day.   You must enter the base  alone or with a
   friend and destroy the  Master Xybots,  thus preventing  them from taking
   over.  Meaty storyline, so let's take a look at the game itself!...

    The game is viewed in true 3D perspective from behind your player.   The
   original status  panel with  the level map can  be brought up by pressing
   option 2  (this is done to save space on the playing screen,  and frankly
   it works quite well!).  The graphics are almost identical to the original
   and look all sharp and clear.   Everything is present, like the coins and
   the powerups,  except for  the turning.    The background  now "snaps" 9O
   degrees, which sometimes might be a little disorienting.   This is not so
   much of an important flaw, though.

    The sound seems to be sampled  from the arcade original and is very good
   indeed.  From the grunts of your player to the nice explosions.  The only
   thing missing is the voice of the Xybots.    There is, however, some nice
   semi-electro-rock-music playing in the background (which can be turned of
   at the title-screen of course).

    The playability is perfect. The game plays exactly as it's arcade parent
   although it's quite a bit easier. You are given the enormous amount of 35
   coins at the beginning of the game. At the end of every level you can use
   the coins to buy better weapons, more speed, better armour  (your shields
   slowly fade, even when you're not hit by enemy bullets)  and all the nice
   stuff you can usually buy in these games.    The Xybots themselves aren't
   as smart as in the original either.    Even the Master Xybots that appear
   every ten levels or so  aren't too hard to destroy.   Still the game is a
   joy to play,  so if you  want a nice blast  which isn't too hard,  go for
   Xybots!  This was a nice Christmas surprise from Atari, and we can all be
   glad that Atari didn't continue producing games of the low quality of the
   last batch.

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 8.8 - Perfect!  Just an exact copy of the original!
    Sound ........ 9.O - Also almost identical to it's arcade parent.
    Playability .. 8.6 - This baby's a dream to play.
    Lastability .. 7.O - Although it may get boring, you'll play this for
                         a long while!
    Overall ...... 8.3 - Excellent in one word!
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
           
                  +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                    Machine    : Sega GameGear
                    Title      : Factory Panic
                    Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                  +----------------------------------------------+

    Although the title may put Joe Public off,  this game isn't as rotten as
   it may sound.  As the name suggests,  the player works in a factory ware-
   house.   Each room of the warehouse  is made up of a  network of conveyor
   belts.  The player's job is to convey various essentials,  like loaves of
   bread,  kebabs and Game Gears,  that appear at the top of the screen to a
   queue of  waiting customers  at the bottom.   This is done by guiding the
   player's character onto switches which reroute the goodies onto different
   belts.  Well, that sounds a lot more exciting than the title, doesn't it?

    The graphics  of this game  aren't as good as  we're used  to from other
   GameGear games,  but still it's all pretty clear what's going on.   There
   is, however, a small problem with the graphics.    And when I say a small
   problem, I do mean a SMALL problem...   The screen is way too small for a
   game like this!  As some of the bigger factory rooms scroll, it's hard to
   plan ahead without a full overview of the belt layout.   Still, this does
   not totally kill the game;  it only withdraws this game from reaching the
   "EXCELLENT"-accolade.  The sound on the other hand, isn't good, but isn't
   bad either.  So until now everything is VERY average!

    But now let's get to the gameplay!   Of course the basic idea sounds too
   simple, but there's a lot more to this game than you'd expect! The simple
   task is made harder by manic scurity guards trying to stop you,   and the
   fact that some of  the items are  defective  and have to be directed to a
   rubbish bin.  It all starts easily, with just three or so people wanting,
   say, a loaf of bread.   But as the game progresses,  more and more people
   join the queue, each demanding specific items.

    Although  it takes a bit  of getting used to,  Factory Panic  is a great
   arcade puzzle game with the emphasis on the arcade bit.  And although the
   intro makes you think otherwise (the game starts of with the hero running
   past a line of grey-clad people  who look like they're queueing for bread
   in Russia) underneath all the initial drawbacks there lurks a very addic-
   tive and original game.

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 6.3 - Strangely cute graphics, but not very well drawn.
    Sound ........ 5.5 - All very basic.  Nothing special here.
    Playability .. 8.O - Very playable, despite all the drawbacks.
    Lastability .. 7.6 - This is a game that will last.
    Overall ...... 7.7 - A good game which just misses out on the
                         "EXCELLENT"-accolade.
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
   (Thanks to ACE for helping us out with this review.)

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                     
                  +----------------Vacation report---------------+
                              
                   Written by : Tjerk "Mega Jerk" Heijmens Visser

                  +----------------------------------------------+

   As  I went to  Thailand for  a few weeks,  and there  haven't  been  much 
   games  released  during  the past  few weeks I thought  that  I'd  better 
   write  something  about video-games there  (we gotta  fill this  issue up
   with something don't we?).
   So here goes:

    The first  place too  look for  video-games in  Thailand  are of  course 
   the malls. But those malls are huuuuge and malls in Holland hardly exist.
     
    Well at the  Mah Boon Krong  mall I found the  most complete  video-game 
   store. They sold the  Game Gear, Game Boy, Super Famicom and  Mega Drive. 
   After a chat  with the  shop keeper I  found  out that he  liked consoles 
   better than handhelds because of the screen size(shall we say: The bigger
   the better)  and that he  expected to see the  Super Famicom  to blow the 
   Mega Drive away.  Though the Super Famicom costs 5000 Bath ($1 = 25 Bath) 
   and the  Mega Drive  costs only  2800 Bath,  and has 230 games  available 
   (Lynx owners all around the world  will now faint...) against only 30 for 
   the Super Famicom. But that will change of course.

    Handhelds are less popular in Thailand,  because prices  are rather high 
   (2900 Bath for the Game Gear (pretty cheap compared to Holland), and 2300 
   Bath for the Game Boy), but with crime and violence on the street rising, 
   you don't  want to be walking  on the  street with your handheld, and get 
   stabbed over it. 
    I was  quite surprised  about the  number  of games  available  for both 
   systems,  about 40 for each.  For the Game Boy there were of course a lot
   of japanese games that I had never seen.  Some of them were  clearly made 
   for  young  kids,  like the  Doremon game  (Doremon  is a  Anime  cartoon 
   celebrety).
    When I asked the  good man about Atari he said that  Atari was something 
   for the old generation..... 
    I've not yet seen an  Atari in Thailand, not even an ST, the PC is about 
   the only  computer system  available in  Thailand  (I didn't even  see an 
   Amiga...).
    In the Yaohan Department Store I only found the NEC TurboExpress next to 
   a Game Boy,  and a Mega Drive.  But Yaohan is  one of the  more expensive 
   malls, so the prices are not that  important and for the average Thai guy 
   the Game Boy prices being already high enough, and with the  TurboExpress  
   hugely outpricing it, it seems destined to fail....

    While I was there I did of  course look for some Game mags, but I didn't 
   really  find one.  Only a few  pages in the  Animation  Magazine,  it's a 
   cartoon  magazine aimed to the younger kids,  which is in Thai. They only  
   talked about the  NEC PC-Engin (That's their spelling),  Sega Mega Drive,  
   and of  course the  Super Famicom.  But in all  the issues  I saw of that  
   magazine only a little bit was about Super Famicom games.

    Not much there, so in my never ending quest for information for Portable 
   Addiction (Ahum..) I also went looking for arcades. But in Thailand there 
   are no real arcades as we know it.You have to look for arcade machines in 
   the malls,  so there I went. When I  arrived at the  Yaohan Deptepartment 
   Store I didn't  see much arcade machines,  that department was  strangely 
   empty...
   In other malls it was the same... 
   Was this the  work of  the feindish  Arcade Kidnapper who had  stolen all 
   arcade machines in Thailand in order to rule the world? No.
   Read this article from  The Nation Daily Newspaper,  from Friday December 
   27, 1991.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                         15 HELD IN SWEEP ON VIDEO GAMES.
                         By Suevit Veerakul.

      POLICE seized about 500 illegal video game machines and arrested 15 
     people  during  coordinated operations  at major  shopping complexes 
     throughout Bangkok yesterday.

      Police teams  from the  Crime Suppression Division  confiscated the
     machines during the sweep of  video game shops at 15 shopping areas, 
     including the  Mah Boonkrong Centre,  The Mall Department Stores and
     Central Department Stores.

      Fifteen shopkeepers were arrested for allegedly  possessing untaxed 
     electronic game machines. (KEEP THIS IN MIND!!! -PA)

      Police said  many  teenagers  were playing  the machines  when they 
     raided the shops, but they did not arrest the young customers.

      The operation was launched after the CSD  received a complaint from 
     a university lecturer that many students were skipping their classes
     to hang around at the video game shops.   (REMEMBER THIS TOO!!! -PA)

      In a  related  development, the  government screening  committee on 
     security  affairs   yesterday  asked  the  Police  and  the  Customs 
     Departments  to make clearer the laws which prevent private agencies
     from importing any electrical part  which may be used as a component 
     in electrical gambling machines. 

      The panel found the restrictions were preventing  people who sought 
     to use the electrical parts  for legal purposes from obtaining them, 
     Deputy Prime Minister Gen (That means General -PA) Pow Sarasin said.

      Gen Pow,  who is  also chairman of  the panel said  after a meeting 
    that the two departments were asked to review the controls which were
    promulgated during Gen Chatchai Choonhavan's administration.

     The Finance Ministry  prohibited  private autorities  from importing 
    electrical  components which  could  be used  in electrical  gambling 
    machines  in an  attempt to stop  teenagers wasting  (that should  be 
    waisting -PA) their money  on the machines,  which were  installed in 
    various department stores.
    (NOW THIS IS REAL CRAP!!!  KEEP THESE  SCENTENCES IN MIND,  'CAUSE WE 
    HAVE SOME COMMENTS ON THIS -PA)

     The departments were also asked to  increase the  penalties on those 
    breaching the restrictions. At present,  offenders face a fine of not 
    more than 4000 Bath and/or a maximum of two years in jail.

     According to Pow, the departments would submit the  revised curbs to 
    the security panel within two weeks.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now if I have  read this right, it says that the operation was  launched 
   after a  complaint  from a  university lecturer, and the  people arrested  
   in  this  operation  were   arrested  for  alledgedly  posessing  untaxed 
   electronic game machines. 
    Now if that thing about the complaint was true this operation is useless.
   I was around ABAC (Assumption Business Administrative College)for a large 
   amount  of time during  my vacation. Around  there I found  lots of small
   restaurants  (we'd call them snackbars, but they have far healthier food,  
   and you can sit if you want) with some of them  having surprisingly good, 
   and definitely untaxed  arcade machines. Some shops even had  Mega Drives 
   which you  could play if you paid... These shops were not included in the
   raid, and the police  will not care about them 'cause they are  only mice 
   compared to the malls. But that's where the students go to play, they are 
   next to the  college building,  those malls are mostly far,  and you have 
   the chance to get into a trafficjam (Common in Bangkok).
    Not that the complaining lecturer was a lecturer at ABAC (I don't know),  
   but the situation is very much the same in other Bangkok colleges.  
    And if those students are smart they'll just buy a portable, and play in 
   class..... 
   
    In the end the newspaper  compares video games with "electrical gambling 
   machines".  Or rather:  they say that  they are exactly the same.  Now my  
   defenition  of an  "electrical gambling machine"  is something  you put a 
   coin in,  in order to get  more money out of it.  And I can not  name one 
   arcade game where you can win money....  
    
    Now  why am I  complaining so  much about this?  Well  The  Nation Daily 
   Newspaper is used at ABAC to learn the students  English, well as long as 
   they learn the language.... I hope they don't start  thinking the same as 
   The Nation, or else even consoles could be banned.....
   (Just looking ahead....:-)

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
           
                 +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                    Machine    : Nintendo GameBoy
                    Title      : Faceball 2OOO
                    Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                    Players    : 1-4
                  +----------------------------------------------+

    Faceball 2OOO is one of those games that stretches the limits of a gaming
   console even further.  And this game doesn't only accomplish some techni-
   cally stunning effects, it's also a highly original title that's also fun
   to play!  So let's take a look at this game.

    Faceball 2OOO is like dodgeball in a labyrinth. This means that you can't
   destroy anybody, you can just hit them with your ball. Now don't run away
   as it's obviously more fun than it might sound!   The game is viewed from
   a first person-perspective,   which means that you actually look thru the
   eyes of your character.  The labyrinth is done in full 3-D, which gives a
   highly realistic feel to this game    (even if the storyline and the like
   aren't that realistic at all!).

    The game itself actually features two types of gameplay. Firstly there is
   the CyberScape, where you (and some friends if you have them) take on the
   Master Smiloid and his team of Smiloids (Yep, all characters in this game
   are represented as Smiloids :-) so have a nice day!) in 6O mazes!  But if
   you (and your friends) can't win from the computer, why not try the Arena
   game, where you take on your friends???  Altough it won't take long until
   you don't have any friends left, you might enjoy it.   In the Arena game,
   up to  four players  play a computerized  game of tag.  This can  be done
   either against each other or a team of Smiloids! And while you are racing
   around one of the labyrinths,  you might also come  across floating pods,
   which contain extras such as 1-Ups, band aids etc...

    The Graphics of this game are revolutionary, as it's the first game using
   sort of a FreeScape system on the GameBoy.  And when you realize that the
   'Boy is running at a mere 1Mhz you'll notice how unbelievable this all is
   considering the fact that even PC running at 16Mhz still have problems if
   they have to display some fancy 3D-graphics.   All in all, it's an incre-
   dible achievement.   The sound on the other hand, isn't that special. But
   who cares when a game is so great!?!?

    When it comes to playability, you will be stunned. You never thought that
   a simple game of tag could be so much fun.    Of course the enjoyment may
   be doubted when it comes to long-term lastability, but who cares?   It is
   just an excellent game, which a true GameBoy owner can't afford to miss!
   Have a nice day!

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 9.7 - A stunning accomplishment!  Polygon 3D on a 'Boy!
    Sound ........ 6.6 - Just some basic effects, but nothing special.
    Playability .. 8.4 - It's a loada fun, especially when playing with
                         friends!
    Lastability .. 7.3 - This game won't last forever,  but it will come a
                         long way.
    Overall ...... 8.2 - A really incredible GameBoy title,  which is just
                         stunning in every aspect of the word.
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
          
                  +------------------------------------------+
                          The International Lynx Club
                        The 24MHz Lynx, a short note, and 
                        comments by Stephen Landrum.
                     By : Tjerk "Mega Jerk" Heijmens Visser
                  +------------------------------------------+
    Finally  The  International  Lynx Club  has finnished  it's  24MHz Lynx.
   They just replaced the 16MHz crystal by a 24MHz crystal.  They've sent me 
   the results  and manual of the 24MHz Lynx, but I  still have to translate 
   it fom German into English.
    The replacement  is very simple and cheap.  All you have  to do is buy a 
   crystal and a switch, to be able to switch back to 16MHz. 
    There are no serious problems, but you  need to play on equal speed when 
   ComLynx-ing and you can't reset anymore....
   But  you'll  read that  next month.  So for now  I have some  comments by 
   Stephen Landrum about the 24MHz Lynx....


   >Stephen Landrum

    I imagine that a lot of  Lynxes  would work with a  faster crystal.  The 
   Comlynx will  of course fail if the  two units  are running  at different 
   speeds.  The 65c02 cell used in the Lynx could run with no problem at all 
   if the clock speed were doubled,  but other parts of the system  would be 
   outside of spec.
    I am not sure what the reset problem is,  since reset is just a function 
   of software.

    All sound effects will be speeded up  (which may be Okay is  some games,
   but will be strange on digitized effects).  The screen would refresh at a 
   faster rate, which would  probably make things look a  little better, and 
   may even improve the contrast ratio of the display. Some games may become 
   unplayable, and the  screen persistance would be more noticable  in games 
   like Chip's Challenge.

    If I were  to install this  in my own unit,  I would definitely  want to 
   install a switch so that I could put my unit back to its  original state.

    A thought just  occured to me - if you had a  switch and two crystals, I 
   would recommend only changing the switch  when the power is off, and that 
   may be what you were referring to as the reset problem.

   >End...

    Now The International  Lynx Club  has some other  interresting  Hardware 
   projects.
   Like:

  - Battery charger;  Charge batteries  in your Lynx  while playing  on your 
    adapter.
  - 1 Card Comlynx;  1 Card can be used to  Lynx-up.  1 Card will be used to 
    power more Lynx-es.
  - Joystick addapter.
  - Stereo for the Lynx I.
  - LED battery light for the Lynx I.
  - Backlight shut-off for the Lynx I.
  - Slowmotion.
  - Anti-scratch screen.
  - Reset for the 24MHz Lynx.

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  
                  +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                    Machine    : Sega GameGear
                    Title      : Axe Battler-legend of golden axe
                    Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                  +----------------------------------------------+

    Well, I guess we all know the arcade classic Golden Axe by now so imagine
   my surprise when I first played  this game and came to the conclusion that
   this card has very little in common with it's arcade counterpart!  More of
   this later. Yet another VERY annoying aspect was that the game is entirely
   in Japanese!  Now I am a great fan of the Japanese language, but this goes
   just a little too far for me to understand! Of course there's a big chance
   that the game will be translated when it's released in the US.

    Anyway,   the game is more sort of an adventure instead of a straightfor-
   ward hack 'n' slash-game.    A huge part of the  game consists  of walking
   around a rather basic map  and encountering all sorts  of weird creatures.
   When you bump into one of these creatures, the view switches to the combat
   mode we are used to from Golden Axe  (at last!).    Now I already hear you
   all cheer, but don't get overexcited though!    Your fighter is limited to
   just a few moves,   unlike Golden Axe where you could do plenty of things!
   Here you are just limited to stabbing, crouching and stabbing, jumping and
   stabbing.  The combat is simply one-to-one and wether you win or lose, you
   will return to the map screen after a fight.  Once you get underground the
   game becomes quite fun.  Here the game changes to more of an arcade-adven-
   ture as you  run across bridges  and through tunnels while  being attacked
   from all directions.  You won't need any more Japanese from this point on,
   but at this point I couldn't help  feeling that I had  missed out on about
   half the game!

    The graphics and sound are alright, but there's certainly nothing special
   here.  The playability is quite well, too,  altough it can be quite a han-
   dicap if  you don't speak  fluently Japanese.   The difficulty is  pitched
   quite right too.   This all means that  there can be only  one conclusion.
   Axe Battler for the GG is an average game, which can be a lot of fun if ye
   can read the manual and in-game text. Now yet one more complaint about the
   game and then I'll stop;   there's an awful amount of blue in the game!!!!
   So once  again  this is  the classic  try-before-you-buy  case.   See  for
   yourself.  Sayonara!

   +-->RATINGS<-------------------------------------------------------------+
    Graphics ..... 7.O - All very average, with a lot of blue!
    Sound ........ 6.7 - The Gear can do a lot better.
    Playability .. 7.5 - All quite playable; nothing new though.
    Lastability .. 6.4 - Won't last that long, as the action doesn't change
                         thru-out the game.
    Overall ...... 7.O - Average.  Just average.
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  
    Well, again a month  has passed. As I was in  Thailand for the best part 
   of it, I had to do most of this in one week.  But next moth we'll hope to 
   give you more info on everything....
    As I don't  trust Atari  on their 5  games a month,  you might  see some 
   reviews of older  Lynx games if no new Lynx games will  become available.
    As for the GameGear,  new titles are not comming fast to Holland, but we
   will of course be able to find something interresting for you.
    Game Boy? Here's Alex....
   Next month for  the Game Boy a review of  Mickey Mouse, Hatris  (From the 
   makers of Tetris) and maybe more...

    After the  next line you'll find the  Bill & Ted's players guide for the 
   Lynx. It is at the end because it is a spoiler. SO BE WARNED !!!!!
   Till we meet again......

                                   Tjerk "Mega Jerk" Heijmens Visser
                                   Editor
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                   BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT PLAYERS GUIDE

    As this is  the first  Lynx-game which we  can truly see as  sort of an
   adventure game,  now was our chance to cover something like a solution to
   this most radical adventure.   As some people get stuck most heinously on
   their journey through time and space,  this guide might just be what they
   need.  Party on, dudes!

   W A R N I N G !     This is a complete solution to Bill & Ted's Excellent
                       Adventure.  Some people might not want to read it, as
                       it might spoil their fun in playing the game!

   ^L











    First of all, collect all the notes you can get and find the gold nugget.
   Now go to the guarded building and give the nugget to the guard.    Enter
   and find the man that tells you about the staff.  Return to the telephone
   booth and travel to 15OO BC.  Use the scare stone. Find all the notes you
   can get  (remember to count by sixteens!).  Enter the valley and find the
   paper note about the fake staff.  Travel back in time and put the note at
   the pillar.  Go to the South-East of Egypt and find the royal ankh   (You
   must wade through shallow water).  Travel to 15OO again and find the boat
   at the South-West part of Egypt.  Use the royal ankh.  Find your way thru
   the water (it's like an invisible maze).  First go to the place where you
   found the ankh in 17OO BC.  Enter the temple and find the  secret passage
   which leads to the harp.  Return to your boat and go to the pyramid.   Go
   into the pyramid and open the door by  walking over the  red spots on the
   ground. Then, when past the wall/door, walk over the four other red spots
   and take the staff.   Find the two keys and open the corresponding doors.
   To get rid of the two creatures guarding the room,  just lure them out of
   there and then run away.  When you return to the room they will  be gone.
   To take the staff, use the harp.  Return the staff  to the man to get the
   flute.  Use this flute in 17OO BC at the North-East to scare the  animals
   over there.  Then find all the notes that are  hidden  under the trees to
   find a phonebook-page.  Travel to Rome.

    First, enter the dungeon.  Find all the notes and the two keys:  Blue and
   black.  Remember to visit Ceasar at the north of the  arena when you have
   enough notes.  Outside the arena you must once again find notes. When you
   think you have all of them, go to the statue. Push the four pieces around
   the statue in place and the push the statue.   Now do this again and then
   go stand in the middle yourself.  After you get launched,    find all the
   notes around the house, but don't enter it.  When you got all  the notes,
   walk into a roman to get kicked out of the garden.   You are now outside.
   Go West, to where a roman is guarding the entrance of the city.    Now go
   down and find your way through the forest.  Somewhere in the forest there
   is the next page of the phonebook.  You must collect all the notes in the
   forest and you must also find the little building.  Enter it and find the
   way through the maze until you find an apple.  Leave the building and  go
   to the guard.  Give him the apple and enter the city.    If everything is
   right you now have 8O notes.  Travel to Europe.

    In Europe, enter the mansion.  To avoid the furniture,  stay on the green
   dots on the floor.  This may take some practise!   Find the white key and
   then find your way to the backyard.  Use the black key to  open the gate.
   Go to the North-West of the screen to find a red key. Use it to enter the
   small house nearby.  Avoid dracula  and take  the magic wand  next to his
   coffin.  Return to the mansion and find the organ. Use the wand to shrink
   it down so you can carry it.  Return to the phonebooth   (The wand causes
   the furniture to stop).   Travel back  to Rome.   Do the  trick  with the
   statue and this time enter the house while using the organ pipes. You can
   now safely walk thru the house to the backyard to take the lyre.   Return
   the lyre to Ceasar and  you will get another lyre.  Enter the dungeon and
   use the lyre to scare away the lion that guards the white lock.   Use the
   white key to open the lock and take the page of the phonebook.

    Travel to Rome 7O BC and enter the dungeon.  Use the black key and put it
   back where you found it  (Bottom-right).  Now travel to Texas.    Collect
   all the notes you can get.   Somewhere,  hidden under a skull,  there's a
   golden coin.  Go to the station and buy a ticket.   Walk to the train and
   use the ticket.  Now use the train to find the remaining notes.  You must
   also find the golden nugget, hidden under yet another skull.  Travel back
   to Egypt and replace the golden nugget at the place where you first found
   it.  Now travel to San Dimas 2691 AD!  Yeah, most radical, dude!

    Be careful on the step-stones as you can only jump from one to another if
   they are in the middle-position.  Again find as many notes as you can and
   find the dynamite.  Return to Texas.   Use the dynamite to  release Billy
   the Kid.   Return to San Dimas.   Go to the  place where you  usually get
   overwhelmed by enemies and use the harmonica.    You can now safely enter
   the next part of San Dimas.  Every time you pick up a note in  this part,
   a block will disappear somewhere else, thus letting you reach other notes
   after which you will be rewarded with a golden key.  Return to Europe.

    Collect 16 notes. Use the golden key to enter the previously unaccessable
   house at the swamp.  Here you will find a mandolin.   You can use this to
   enter the previously locked part of San Dimas.   The Grim Reaper welcomes
   you, and you're now ready to play his game. As the exact route isn't easy
   to explain in a solution like this,  I'll just tell you what to do.   The
   objective of this part is to collect yet another 16 notes.   Sometimes it
   is necessary to shove blocks over the  lava in such a way that you can go
   to other parts of  the playing field.   The princesses have got  the last
   note.   If you succeed in rescuing them you should have 144 notes by that
   time.  To get back to the entrance of the playing field, go east from the
   place where your rescued the babes.  The go south and walk clockwise (ie:
   south, west, north).  When you are standing against the north wall,  walk
   west to the corner and go counter-clockwise. Once in the northeast corner
   you must go west, south, west and north to the exit.  You'll have to find
   the correct tiles to jump on all the way yourself. Now you must return to
   the phone booth.  The Grim Reaper is guarding it,  but when you play your
   guitar he suddenly realizes that he has LOST!  Enter the booth and travel
   through time to finish the game!

                              T H E    E N D  ????


 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+


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